Anyone have a rejection letter? It’s a writing exercise. I don’t keep any around. They are generally too generic and too stupid to keep.

My out-of-office email… if I had an office to be out of.

“I am out of the office. I will not be reading email. You may continue to send email while I’m out. I plan to enjoy every minute of my vacation and that means no email will be read until I get back. I may or may not respond when I get back. In fact, after seeing that my email box contains 1000 emails, I will delete them all without reading a single one. You will know that I have returned to the office, when you receive a reply.”

Do you think I could get away with that message? At least it’s honest. I really hate the standard out-of-office automated replies.

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More shameless promotion: Vote for me over at the Blogger’s Choice Awards for “Best blog design.” Thanks.

Yes, there were distractions in graduate school. Television, friends, drinking, etc. Surfing the internet was another way to pass the time. I was fond of just plain doing nothing or getting into hobbies that took up extra time. I became a master procrastinator. It’s the disease of graduate school especially by the third year. I began to wonder if I was ever going to get out of there. And Einstein was right–time for the gruadte student does slow down to a standstill.

If so, check out shaveeverywhere.com. It’s so corny and smarmy that it’s funny. I think I should dare Mr. Fab to outdo this site. I want to leave you with this columnist’s point of view because I think he writes about it best. Enjoy!

Oh…thanks K over at Yoga Coffee Outlook for the tag. Now where to start? Do I tell you things I don’t think other bloggers know about me? Or do I tell you things I think no one knows?

1) I’m allergic to mushrooms. Actually I’m allergic to many foods including peanuts, soy and bananas. Mushrooms give me a rash tough, which the others don’t.

2) I have been single for nearly 14 years. I was married for less than a year.

3) I have wanted to meet the right guy all that time and have more children.

4) On my right foot, I can move my big toe independently of the others. I can rub the big toe and the one next to it back and forth. I used to be able to do it with the left foot.

5) I hate being ignored. I drives me crazy. I will do anything to get someone’s attention who is willfully (or if I think they are) ignoring me to the point of doing some pretty crazy things.  Typically this includes calling a lot and/or poking. Maybe someday I will quit.

Remember my admission of being a geek? Of being just like the girl in this cartoon I posted? Well, it seems that my offspring is also a geek. I don’t know how it happened. My parents weren’t geeks, so there’s really no explanation for me. My son is excited about “pi” and getting to use it in geometry. He talks quickly and excitedly about using a compass to find the bisector of a line. What’s a mother to do? He’s enjoying chemistry problems that the other students complain about. I told him, “You know, you’re a geek.” He laughed, and said he knows worse. Worse? There’s worse? What happened? Where did I go wrong? How did a create a little me? Poor kid.

I swear geekiness isn’t inheritable. Can’t be. My mother can’t figure out how my sister and I turned out the way we did. She didn’t like school that much. She never got excited about math or science.

Can the geek be removed? There must be a school that can undo the geek. I haven’t found one yet though. It probably wouldn’t help me at all. Years from now I may have to apologize for the apparent “geek gene” that I passed on.

I just hope he doesn’t turn out like those boys in the cartoons. You know…the one who sniffs the girls or begs one to go out with him. Odd goods are just that. Perhaps I won’t have to worry about him getting some girl pregnant. I will just have to wonder what kind of girl will want such a geek.

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As a response to Mr. Fab’s comment, here are the definitions of geek, dork and nerd.